Chapter 1 Mariana Aracelia Valente

Mariana Aracelia Valente sat by the grand window of her lavish penthouse, her eyes gazing out over the sprawling city that never seemed to sleep. The skyline glittered with the lights of a thousand buildings, each one representing ambition, success, and hidden secrets. Yet, as she watched the lights flicker like distant stars, all she could feel was the hollow ache inside her chest.

The betrayal had been swift, insidious-almost a whisper in the silence of their once-perfect marriage. Her husband, Felix, had been everything she thought she needed. Charming, handsome, powerful-a man whose touch she had once believed to be her salvation. But over time, the cracks had begun to show. Slowly at first, then all at once. The late nights, the unexplained absences, the coldness that crept into his once-warm embrace. And then, she found the evidence. The text messages. The photographs. The lies that cut deeper than any blade ever could.

Felix thought she didn't know. He thought she was blind, weak, too consumed by the world they had built together to notice the truth. But he underestimated her. He underestimated her ability to wait, to watch, and to bide her time. The first instinct had been rage-wild, consuming fury. It had taken everything in her to suppress the anger and to not confront him. But she had done it. She had kept the knowledge buried deep within her, masked by the calm facade of a woman in control.

Tonight was different, though. Something had shifted within her. The waiting, the silence-it had gone on long enough. Felix had no idea what was coming for him. She had spent months, maybe longer, quietly observing, quietly planning. And now, the time had finally come.

The soft click of the door behind her broke the stillness. She didn't have to turn around to know who it was. Felix. Her husband, the man who had broken her heart and shattered the trust she had so blindly placed in him. His footsteps were deliberate, calculated-he had no idea she was already aware of his deceit.

"Mariana," Felix's voice was smooth, too smooth. He knew exactly how to wear his mask, how to play the perfect husband when it suited him. He moved across the room toward her, his presence like a shadow falling over her. "You're up late tonight. Everything okay?"

She turned her head slightly, enough to meet his gaze. His eyes were cold, distant-deflecting the heat of her stare. She almost smiled at the audacity of his question. Everything okay? She had known about his affair for months. She knew about the woman, the meetings, the lies. And yet, here he was, acting as if nothing had changed. He hadn't even noticed the shift in her demeanor.

"Everything's fine," Mariana replied, her voice a calm whisper, as though she hadn't just spent the last few hours replaying every moment of their marriage in her mind. "I was just thinking."

Felix raised an eyebrow, his lips curling into a smirk. "Thinking about what?" he asked, a trace of condescension in his voice.

Mariana stood up from her seat and faced him, her eyes never leaving his. The game had begun. She had waited so long for this moment, and now, she would take control. The power had always been in her hands; she just had to remind him of that.

"You," she said simply, her voice low but deliberate.

Felix's expression faltered for a moment-just a flicker of doubt in his eyes. But it was gone as quickly as it had come. He stepped closer to her, his hand reaching out as if to touch her shoulder in a gesture of intimacy. It was a move he had made countless times before, but tonight, she wouldn't flinch.

She took a step back, putting just enough distance between them to make him pause. He looked confused, maybe even a little worried. Good. He should be.

"I've been thinking about everything," she continued, her gaze unwavering. "About you. About us."

Felix's smirk faded slightly. He took another step closer, but she held her ground. His eyes searched hers, but there was no warmth there. There was nothing but cold calculation.

"Mariana," he said, his tone softening as though trying to coax her back into their familiar routine. "I know things have been a little off lately, but we can fix this. We've been through worse, haven't we? This is just a phase. We'll get through it."

A phase. That's what he thought it was. That was how little he understood her, how little he understood the depth of his betrayal. He thought he could smooth it over with a few sweet words, a few promises. But what he didn't know was that Mariana Aracelia Valente was no longer the same woman he had married. The woman who had blindly adored him, trusted him-she was gone.

"And what about her, Felix?" she asked, her voice suddenly sharp. The words felt foreign on her tongue, yet they were the words she had held back for so long. "What about the woman you've been seeing behind my back?"

His expression faltered, just for a second, before he recovered. He tried to laugh it off, a nervous, hollow sound that didn't reach his eyes. "What are you talking about? Mariana, I-"

"Don't lie to me," she cut him off, her voice firm now. "I've known for months, Felix. I've known about the late nights, the messages, the phone calls, the way you look at her. You think I didn't see? You think I didn't notice?"

There was a moment of silence. A moment where Felix's mask cracked. He was caught-utterly and completely.

Mariana didn't feel satisfaction, not yet. Instead, she felt a cold, almost serene calm. She had expected anger, but it wasn't anger that coursed through her veins now. It was control. She was in control now. This was her moment.

"I know everything, Felix," she said quietly. "And I'm not going to let you destroy me. Not anymore."

Felix opened his mouth, but no words came out. His confidence had evaporated, replaced by a raw, almost desperate vulnerability. He could see it in her eyes now-he had underestimated her. He had thought she was weak, that she would be too passive to fight back. He was wrong.

"I want a divorce," Mariana stated plainly, her voice carrying the weight of a decision that had been years in the making. "And you're going to pay for everything."

Felix took a step back, his face pale. "You can't be serious..."

Mariana didn't flinch. She wasn't going to back down. "I am," she said, her voice cold. "You've lost me, Felix. And now, you'll lose everything else."

Turning away from him, Mariana walked towards the door. She had made her decision. The betrayal had broken her, but it would also be the catalyst for her transformation. Felix had made the mistake of thinking she was just a pawn in his game. What he didn't realize was that she was the one who controlled the pieces now.

The storm had begun, and there was no turning back.